3. The budget is also not clear on the school teachers’ vacation leave. You might be very aware that at the moment, all teachers’ vacation leave is suspended on the basis of reduced fiscal space but accumulated leave remains an obligation to be fulfilled by the State at a future date. So, some of us might not understand that when the schools close it is holiday on the part of the school children and not the teachers because they are called to be on duty at times and sometimes deployed to do other duties during school holidays. So, it means the teachers are always on duty, thus we are recommending as a Committee that the teachers’ vacation leave should be reinstated and provided for in the budget.
4. There is currently a four tier pricing system in the market which is causing havoc on workers’ salaries and purchasing power for all citizens and this is also compounded by cash shortages As a Committee, our recommendation is that there is urgent need to address the four tier pricing system, the cash and foreign currency shortage in the economy. Given the limited fiscal space, non-monetary benefits to incentivise…
THE TEMPORARY SPEAKER : Order Hon. Members, Vehicle Prado ABL-4898 is blocking other vehicles. May the owner please go and remove the vehicle.
HON. MUDYIWA : I was saying that given the limited fiscal space, non-monetary benefits to incentivise civil servants should also be negotiated with workers’ representatives.
5. There is Statutory Instrument 125 which was enacted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in 2013 to provide for non Public Service social workers to practice as probation officers but this is yet to be operationalised. The 2018 Budget presented was silent on this issue. We are concerned that this negatively impacts on the protection of children’s rights in cases before the courts. The Committee was informed that the Ministry is awaiting approval from the Treasury. We are thus recommending that expeditious approval and allocation of resources to facilitate the speedy operationalisation of Statutory Instrument 125 of 2013 be done. It is recommended that it be operationalised.
6. We have a model employment office which was allocated $34 thousand against a bid of $150 000. This remains too low. This amount is supposed to cover creation of a database particularly purchasing computers, software installation, maintenance cost and training of provincial officers. Thus, we are recommending as a Committee that adequate financial resources be made available towards creation of a database of job seekers at the model employment office.
7. Shortage of equipment and vehicles. We noted that this is negatively impacting on service delivery in the Ministry. Such important activities as labour inspections and investigations are woefully inadequate as some offices have no chairs, desks and essential basic office equipment. The current system of hiring vehicles from CMED is proving to be very expensive and unsustainable. Thus saying, despite the reduced fiscal space, adequate financial resources for the procurement of vehicles, furniture and office equipment for the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare should be prioritised in order to facilitate efficient delivery of service.
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